tbh, I think that most people who say ‘hurr when I was a low rank I manned up and got gud’, played when the playerbase was a lot newer and the percentage of high ranks was a lot smaller. this makes it easier to learn the game as you go along.

I got this game on a free weekend which helped, pretty sure the highest ranks on most servers were maybe 30 or so, rather than the multiple high ranks pubstompers you get nowadays that are built to destroy

You realize that your assumption that you should be able to react to a feint as a mechanic is based on a false premise? Please review the following: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feint

So by nature it is designed to FOOL YOU into parrying or reaction. This is very much the case as it fools even the best players if they do not ANTICIPATE one or maintain the right distance. I fake feint all the time and it gets people to parry. Fake Feint you ask? Yes and how you do this? Much like the feint mechanic should be used sparingly to avoid predictability. So when face hugging, I will occasionally do a simple timed look up while doing nothing else, which gets them to parry, then I crush them. So would you cap looking up?

Feints are fine, they do what they are intended to do. Some are more cheesy than others and some so so damn slow and predictable and super easy to read. We all know which 1 handers have fast feints and which slow pole weapons have longer feints. Defense, distance and foot work are your best allies. Yeah I get mad at myself when I fall for one, even more so if it happens more than once from the same player. I also find that those who rely on feints fall victim of them themselves because they are more aggressive than defensive. It is all about the player and time in the game. The more you play, the easier it is to predict when a player will throw one. Feints are not some magic instant free hit or kill. If you die from them a lot then that is on you.

Thus a very dead horse.

stop relating this to real life. its supposed to be a balanced video game